


Like sister like brother

by Sarah_Lucy_2000



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-29
Updated: 2021-02-07
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:08:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,774
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28415895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sarah_Lucy_2000/pseuds/Sarah_Lucy_2000
Summary: Maria never had it easy: First there was her troubled childhood and her alcoholic jerk of a father. When she finally decided to break free she only got into more problems with working in a world, dominated by men and to have the icing on the cake, she now had to deal with self-proclaimed superheroes. But the real problems started when Maria found herself with a friend on vacation, turning her whole world upside down as things are revealed she would have never deemed possible. Not even in her worst nightmares.
Relationships: Maria Hill & Melinda May, Maria Hill & Natasha Romanov, Nick Fury & Maria Hill, Phil Coulson & Maria Hill
Comments: 5
Kudos: 9





	1. chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first story/fanfiction ever. Also I am from Germany and therefore English isn't my first language but that this will do. If there are any suggestions on improvement feel to leave a comment. :-)  
> I'll highlight thoughts and memory flashbacks by writing in curved (italic?) way and will add more tags throughout the story.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first story/fanfiction ever. Also I am from Germany and therefore English isn't my first language but hope that this will do. If there are any suggestions on improvement feel to leave a comment. :-)  
> I'll highlight thoughts and memory flashbacks by writing in curved (italic?) way and will add more tags throughout the story.

One dark eye looking down at her giving her a disbelieving, stern and also daring look. This is probably the best way to summon up the way the director looked at her this moment. Maria was never a person afraid of voicing her own opinion. One of the reasons she rose so quickly through the ranks within SHIELD and the Marines. But where others tended to overstep certain boundaries Maria was always quite aware of the fine line that seemed to separate voicing your opinion to being outright disrespectful. So when she made her dislike of handling phase two as priority where else others would go for an immediate evacuation known, she didn’t expect much coming from her superior, having learned long ago that when ha his mind made there was really no point in arguing. The agents she took with her to gather the phase two prototypes shot her a side-glance afterwards. They understood full well what it means standing up against a person as intimidating as Nick Fury but more so the Agents were fully aware that although it might take some courage confronting the director of SHIELD in such a blunt fashion it would probably considered suicidal asking the Ice queen of SHIELD how she manages to bring up such courage.

_Seems as Fury isn’t the only one having an intimidating reputation_ , Hill smirked to herself. Issuing orders about getting the phase two prototypes onto the trucks asap, she moved along without betting an eyelash. “Can’t you see that the truck already is at it’s maximal capacity? The tesseract got a high chance with blowing this place up any second. What are you waiting for?”, she barked out orders as if their life’s depended on how fast they loaded everything up and got out. Out the corner of her eye she suddenly noticed movements and registerd them as Barton’s and Selvigs’ along a group of some SHIELD agents, making their way to towards the trucks. Normally it wouldn’t be too much out of the ordinary for her, considering that they are about to evacuate, but the there are two things that almost hit the commander like a lightning bolt. For one instance there were other people should be with them if they decided to leave, Fury being one of them, who spent the last few minutes with the leading scientist and therefore should be among the group. Secondly, it’s the new mysterious man standing in the middle of them, being surrounded by her agents and Barton as if they were trying to protect this strange figure.

“We gonna need the trucks”, was all Barton said to her but the bluntness in his speech wasn’t the only thing earning her attention. No, she was even more suspicious of their eyes, now being an icy blue instead of it’s usual color. “Who’s this guy?” she only answered while discreetly putting more distance between herself and this group. “They didn’t tell me” is her only response from Barton and if she was suspicious before now her whole body was on high alert and took carefully measured steps away from them without raising any suspicion on their end. She just wished that there is a way for her to warn anybody else without alarming them about her knowledge. Unfortunately, luck didn’t seem to be on her side as her pager turned on resounding the voice of Fury as he informed her about Barton being compromised.

“Great just what I need”, she grumbled to herself when she ducked and rolled out the way of Clint targeting her with his gun. Once the fire from their end ceased, she moved to get one of the remaining trucks at the same time as the Director barked orders into the pager to prevent Barton and Selvig from leaving the facility with the tesseract. While the others took the direct route chasing after the rouge team Maria knew better and chose one of the other routes to move her vehicle in front of Barton’s. Shots were being fired on both sides until her car started swaying and moved aside. Still chasing them she heard the sudden sound of an explosion. She never turned her head around knowing what would catch up to her soon enough. _Well shit…_ , Maria thought before the tunnels crashed into her car, burying her amongst all the others who didn’t escape.

“Hill do you copy”, was the next thing she heard, making her realize that she was very much alive and didn’t get crushed by the debris: “A lot of men under don’t know how many survivors”, was her short response and although she felt crying out of relief, her tiredness and the fact that some of the people she swore to lead will get send back in body bags kept her from doing so and instead she moved on to follow her orders. It was cruel work but one that needed doing nonetheless.

Maria stood in the middle of what used be the loading hangar for the vehicles, coordinating the rescue and search teams while also trying to reestablish communication systems that broke down shortly after the original explosion. _Exhale and inhale_ , she reminded herself when they found another corpse. Another person she failed to protect. Sighing once she let her mind wander what would happen after the dust settled and every person, dead or alive, has been cleared out of the building. Fury walked up to her, probably to get information on the progress of search and rescue. The usual stride in his steps, always measured and highly efficient, now had certain edge to it. An anger that seemed to perfectly suit his last name accompanied him, but where one might think that it’s directed against the person he walks up to, Maria knew better. The slight hesitation before he halts in front of her tells her quite plainly that his anger is not directed at her and more hesitant about phrasing something to her. Usually this kind of weariness means for her she’ll have to cut back on her work, take it easy and god knows Maria never goes easy. When everybody is long gone from the office to get their well reserved rest, Commander Hill is always staying, pulling one double shift after another, making sure that as many people as possible survive while on her watch. So when Fury walks up to her stating she should take some time off she gives him her best No bullshit look. Fury’s only response is a raised eyebrow before he watches her for a while. Knowing full well that Maria is not going to back down on this he sighed once deeply before he replied “Make sure that someone takes a look at that head of yours. Wouldn’t want the deputy director to fucking die because she didn’t give a damn about her own injuries, now would we?”. Casting one last glance at her he turned around without waiting for her answer.

After her work at the facility has been taken care of, for now, Maria moved back to headquarters waiting for new orders to come in. When she entered the building, the guards looked at her briefly before watching back out front. _Nothing wrong with that_ , Maria told herself, _unless you want to risk getting everybody in the building killed_. Not even a swipe of her body has been done. Waiting for the elevator she dialed the number for R&D department of SHIELD making a brief, yet effective call about the handling of entering persons to the building and the lack of response from security. Nowadays everybody could wear a mask disguising them into somebody completely else. After that was taken care of Maria started walking towards her office when she received notice to meet at the helicarrier ASAP. She turned around instantly and walked back the long corridors towards the elevator and then the entrance. People were trying to hurry as to not get into her way. Fury might be the director, a terrifying one at that, but Maria Hill didn’t earn herself nicknames like Ice queen or Hardass Hill for no reason. One agent accidentally dropped a file while trying to move aside and couldn’t get out of her line fast enough so Maria decided on fixing the guy with her famous stare that sent grown man running (and crying for their moms) before, but ultimately took at turn around said agent and kept walking without turning once back until she noticed that the guards at the entrance have already been replaced by more competent one’s.

As she arrived at the helicarrier Maria stared out into the ocean, taking in the view. Waves continued to create a never-ending flow that seemed to stretch to no end. _The endless fluid motions of the sea_ , Maria thought to herself so similar to her own work. Intelligence, especially these days, demanded everything of you. To always keep going no matter what because if you stop, crime and everything bad in the world might succeed in overthrowing everything good that’s been established. So Maria kept on walking inside, never once stopping to work. A war wouldn’t wait so that the deputy director could take a break and so she didn’t and did what she was best at. Walking through the empty and barren corridors towards the bridge that everybody seemed to be nervous if more so even anxious. Some of the agents walking through the corridors halted at the sight of her. Coming to a quick stop herself she chastised them “What are you waiting for? The enemy won’t wait for us because you decided to take a break.” In an instant the people around her were moving again while Maria entered the bridge with a small frown plastered on her face.

Fury’s only response to her sour mood was a single raised eyebrow and briefed her quickly on the progress here, which is why Maria was glad to have him from all the people as her superior officer. Even if she didn’t always agree with him, she appreciated the way he solemnly focused on the task at hand and not give any bullshit about open up what pissed her off. “What will be your next step sir? According to our sources Barton started gathering a group of ex mercenaries around him and then there is still this new player out there about who we know nothing but that he wants to conquer earth.” She heard someone taking in a sharp breath. Sure, this all sounds bad but knowing Fury he always got trick in sleeve and continued to listen to him. “I’ve sent Coulson and Romanov to collect some people for me they should arrive so…” “The Avengers initiative sir? With all due respect we are at war with some alien who decided to just show up. I don’t think we have the luxury of experimenting how well a group of individuals might work under such pressure. They’ve never even met each other before and now you want to trust them to just go and ‘save the world’”. Having a group of dangerous people on the bridge had Maria on edge. They might be good people but there’s no guarantee that they’ll work together, not even starting to begin with about what might happen if they decided to turn on them… “This is a matter not up for discussion Agent Hill” is her only response to her concern. Counting to three in her mind to regain composure she thought about what a mess they are about to create bringing the Avengers into the boat before replying “What is our next step then?” “I’ve sent Romanov to bring in Banner …” he momentarily paused at the sight of her unimpressed yet questioning look. “He got the best chance at locating the tesseract and we’ll move on from there.”

Not even one hour later Romanov walked onto the bridge accompanied by two men. Said woman walked straight over to Fury to brief him on the retrieval of her subject. Her composure seemed to be always so elegant, like a queen entering a ball, yet her expression told anybody risking a glance that the Black Widow is a person who you’d never want to cross in your life. Maria could very well remembered her first encounter with the woman.

_It was about a month after Barton brought her into SHIELD, Maria was training recruits at that time, when the director walked up to her with Romanov and Barton in tow. After a short and formal greeting he got straight down to business “I have a new assignment for you Agent Hill. As you’ve probably heard already Agent Barton brought the infamous Black Widow to SHIELD”, which he did while shooting Barton a warning glance who squirmed under the intensity of it “However this not the first time that one our agents brought a stray back from their assignments…” A few chuckles were heard from her recruits who all knew the story of how Coulson brought Barton in. Fury, who was deputy director at that time was so mad that Coulson actively avoided him for a whole month. “So, I’ve come to the decision to give Romanov the chance of working for us. You’re going to be her SO from now on Hill.” Maria whipped her head now from Fury to Romanov and back. Being to stunned for a second to reply she gathered her thoughts before answering “If I might ask sir. Wouldn’t Agent Barton be better suited for the job? He is after all the person who brought her in.” “Agent Barton showed a great lack of responsibility when he decided to bring somebody in without consulting his superior officer first.” Fury turned around and signaled Barton to come along which left Maria alone with the Black Widow and a bunch of scared trainees …_

Still being caught up with her old memories she missed at first that the men accompanying the widow were Dr. Bruce Banner and Captain Fucking America. Taking in the captain’s appearance she noticed how utterly lost he still seemed in this new century. _Although he is really as good looking as everybody described him to be_ , Maria couldn't help but notice his strange appearance. Besides his odd choice of clothes and his unusual haircut nobody couldn’t imagine him not being from this time. But his looks weren’t the only thing she noticed. The captain seemed to be analyzing anybody and everything on the bridge as if categorizing them. When the captain walked past her however, she couldn’t keep the negative thoughts from taking over, about how a skinny kid from Brooklyn could possibly let a scientist experiment on him, turning him into a weapon.

She faintly heard Fury giving Romanov the orders to show Banner his new lab and therefore sensing that the little show of introduction was over and concentrated on the task at hand before she got intercepted by the shout of Sitwell informing everyone that Loki has been found. “… No wait cross match. 79%” “Where?” “Stuttgart, Germany, Koenigsstraße”. “He isn’t exactly hiding” came the snark comment from Sitwell. Less than five minutes later Romanov and Rogers were in a Quinjet with some agents, on the way to Stuttgart. It would take the two at least another hour before they reached their destination and everything on the bridge went smoothly so Maria decided to head for a quick bite at the cafeteria. On her way she noticed Dr. Banner pacing through his new lab clearly looking troubled. “Something wrong Doc?”. Banner turned around and after finding her waiting in the door he gathered his thoughts quickly before replying “Oh no. Everything is fine thank you.” At her raised eyebrow he sighed before replying “It’s no big deal… I am just not sure what will happen once we got Loki and the Tesseract. I am sure that a Norse god trying to take over isn’t really the best thing for my stress level”. His expression was shy while he tried to look anywhere but her eyes. “Doctor I can assure you that we will do everything to keep Loki from getting to you or your work once found. SHIELD designed the helicarrier to be hulk proof. I think we can manage a Norse god then” “Thank you deputy director Hill” was his answer before she excused herself with a short nod.

At the cafeteria Hill stood between taking a blueberry muffin and an apple before deciding for the fruit and a coffee. _Seriously SHIELD should consider putting coffee automatons everywhere across the carrier…_ Her thoughts were being interrupted by the call of her cell “This is Hill”. “Hey Maria. I was wondering if we got any updates on our situation or Barton”, she recognized Natasha’s voice in an instant “No but if you were really up for updates, you’d ask through the comm that connects you to the bridge. Besides you and I both know that you’d be informed the second the information changes. Soo what’s the matter?”. Maria knew Romanov from all the time being her SO enough to recognize when she just wanted to chat and when the Redhead was almost afraid of questioning her on a matter that Maria wouldn’t like. And god knows Maria has her way of kicking Nat’s ass both in the sparring ring and through bullshit assignments that she knew exactly Romanov hated.

“Well Rogers and I got some time to talk now and I couldn’t help but notice that he seems to be quite lonely. So anyway I thought the best way to introduce the capsicle to the 21st century might be to set him up for some dates…” “Romanov if you really think that the captain should engage in some social activities you can just simply suggest it to him, which is why I’m a bit surprised to hear from you about this since you’re perfectly capable to that yourself and…” “Well I know that I can do it on my own thank you very much”. The widow took a small pause in her speech as if she’s afraid of voicing her next thoughts which makes Maria halt for a second. “Spit it out. I’ve got lots of work to do” “I probably would have by now if you didn’t interrupt me. Anyway… I’ve been already thinking about possible candidates which isn’t that easy since most women tend to only see the supersoldier and not the man behind it. And I know that you haven’t seen anyone for a while so I thought it might be nice for you to have some fun outside of work by you know… Going on a date or something”. Towards the end of her speech Natasha went from a little concerned to a full-scale rant, being fully aware where her latest statement might get her. Biting the inside of her cheek Hill took a deep breath before giving a crisp answer about how inappropriate such a suggestion would be and didn’t miss the opportunity to also pass down a lecture about fraternization. They then hung up before Maria couldn’t hold it in herself any longer and let out a chuckle. She enjoyed teasing Natasha and making her sweat far too much.

Soon after things went haywire in Stuttgart, she was glad that Rogers and the agents had retrieved Loki at least, but got majorly pissed when she heard about Stark’s involvement in the matter. It wasn’t that she hated the billionaire per se but his arrogance combined with the fact that he still always seemed to achieve what he wants despite his obnoxious behavior made her want to strangle the man from time to time. So when Romanov commed them, saying that Loki’s brother came and first busted the god out their hands, but ultimately decided to follow along towards the helicarrier Maria’s mood turned from pissed to outright murderous and it seemed to translate into her actions because the agent in front of her delivering an important report visibly gulped and almost ran by the time he was being dismissed so Maria forced herself to take three deep breaths. At this point the group consisting of Romanov, Rogers, Banner and Thor showed up with Natasha shooting her an apologetic look which didn’t go unnoticed by the captain and the doctor, while the god seemed to be completely oblivious. Dr. Banner seemed to be as much in the dark as Rogers and therefore just answered with a simple shrug at the confused look plastered across the captain’s face.

‘The team’ discussed the matter of Loki when Stark entered, who immediately jumped at the chance of proofing his intelligence at the question of how Barton’s team plans to use the iridium. Maria’s fury rose to a new level which made her subconsciously straighten her spine. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Romanov getting wary, knowing full well that this posture usually meant somebody is about to get their ass kicked. So when Stark talked about the iridium she couldn’t keep her sadistic comment to herself “Since when have you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?”. A topic that Maria had researched herself back when the tesseract had first been stolen. She was quite fascinated herself with that topic and probably would have considered it as an alternative career if her troubled past wouldn’t have ‘forced’ her to go down the path she’s at now. A path she still likes and his extremely good at, but one she would have liked not to take. After all, living and working in a men’s world demands a lot of sacrifices from her end. “Last night.”, was the response from the billionaire but the look on his face told her it was more than disrespect pushing him to give that answer. It seemed as if Stark was baffled about the fact that somebody else but Banner and himself had the faintest idea what they were talking about. This fact made Maria stop her movement and she forced herself to take a deep breath. She barely noticed when the team left the meeting table at the bridge, being solemnly focused on the task at hand: Finding Barton and his team of Mercenaries before they could strike.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the second chapter and I hope you'll like it. The next few chapters will take up a bit more time. Maybe a week or two between each chapter. :-)

“Agent Romanov.” Stark took a dramatic pause in his speech to assure he received the attention of said woman once they left the bridge. “Is it just me or did the woman, what was her name again… Who questioned my knowledge of thermonuclear astrophysics seem pissed at the mere sight of us?”. Romanov couldn’t see past this opportunity and therefore replied taking in the eyes of the person in front of her for dramatic effect “You know Stark, I am honestly surprised you took notice of that. Having an ego the size of a country must be very exhausting for after all.” She heard somebody gulp behind her and noticed out of the corner of her eye Doctor Banner wincing but frankly she didn’t care. Stark didn’t know who he tried to mess with, so Natasha made sure to emphasize her point. “And to answer your question yes she was pissed seeing YOU. Having somebody as arrogant as you Tony walk into a place, you consider yourself home, as if you’d own it can tend to put people off.” She took a small pause in her speech while throwing her arms in a desperate seeming way into the air to emphasize her point “So next time you try to piss off my senior officer take my warning and remember that Maria Hill always has a way to pay you back for this. Believe me I had to learn this lesson myself the hard way and it wasn’t a pleasant one”. With one last threatening look at Stark she continued her way down the hallway towards the labs. “Romanov is already scary enough as it is. I’m not thrilled to find out how her mentor might be if get on her wrong side” “If Romanov learned from her I don’t wanna know what she would do. I mean she is already terrifying enough but having a woman who taught the black widow being pissed off at you…”, she heard Banner nervously mutter before noticing several footsteps following her. _Good_ , she thought, _at least the guys know now same some basic rules now_. Though she almost felt sorry for Bruce, almost.

“Commander Hill?”, being called Maria turned around to face the nervous agent who managed to gather enough courage to face her. Giving the junior agent a single raised eyebrow to indicate that she’s listening the woman continued “Here are the reports you wanted to have”. She handed Maria said files casting a nervous look down to her own feet. After quickly overviewing the data she handed it back “Bring it to my office and leave it on my desk Agent. You’re dismissed.” Hearing that the blonde in front of her almost jumped at the chance of getting away and did as asked. “You know sometimes you could soften up a little.”. Hearing her mentor’s words, she put her work aside for the moment only focusing on the conversation “But if I were to soften up a bit who would take my role as the Ice queen of SHIELD? I know you don’t like me being that way, but somebody has to take the role of the bitch.” He noticeably winced at that. “You know as well as I do that you’re anything but a bitch” Maria opened her mouth to reply but Phil raised a single hand to ask for her patience while he was finishing his train of thought “I’ve known you since that day in Madripoor. You were so young then and but already so responsible. Always looking out for the people left in your care and that never changed”, Maria stared out into the clouds at that. She wasn’t sure if she would shed tears the moment she turned around to face him and Phil noticed, pushing her a little further “You are a bright person Maria who continues to surprise me every time but… I also miss to see the woman behind the curtains. Yes you work in a world that makes it incredibly hard for women to be themselves but you can’t keep up the pace you’re having now forever. Take Peggy Carter for an example: She is an incredibly tough as nail person who wasn’t afraid giving a recruit a right hook for insubordination, yet she showed great restrain when needed. But that’s not the important part. The important part is that she still managed to build herself a life outside of work without sacrificing her career either. I know you’ll probably hate to hear it but in certain ways you remind me a bit of Stark”. At that she whipped her head around, eyes widened with a flash of warning in them, ready to bring a furious retort but Coulson continued, not giving her a chance to reply “You both work so incredibly hard to do everything in order to save the world. Up to a point where you willing to sacrifice yourself as a person for the greater good. But you know… Sometimes it’s good to let somebody else take control so you can help when it is really required of you. Promise me that you’ll look after yourself some more Maria?”. _Shit_ , she thought as her eyes began to water and muttered a short promise to Coulson before moving back to her task.

A few short minutes later the bridge shook from the aftermath of an explosion. “Damage report” was her short request that got rapidly answered by an explanation about one of the turbines being damaged at the same time as she heard Fury’s voice through her comm asking for a status report. “Turbine 1 is hit and out of commission if we lose one more engine, we won’t be in the air for much longer”. She looked at one of the screens recognizing it immediately as Barton’s work. No other marksman alive that she knew would be able to wrack so much havoc with one shot. Especially considering they flew still in stealth mode. While Coulson moved out to secure the Phase two prototypes Fury arrived on the bridge with a hurry in his steps that told her how bad it’s actually looking for them. Knowing Fury, it usually takes a lot for the old man to openly show any kind of concern, being aware that any display of worry can resonate into effecting their work negatively. After sharing a quick yet concerned look they hear Romanov talking through the comms about Banner and their situation. Knowing that Banner is a ticking time bomb right now, they wait for any sign about his status with growing anticipation until they can hear the roar of the hulk. Several people stop for the fraction of a second to listen more closely, confirming Maria’s fear that the hulk roams free and they have rented his only apartment.

But Maria didn’t have time to dwell on this as Fury gave her new orders, so she signaled two agents to come along. As she made her way for the door, Hill saw some small device rolling across the floor towards her. “Grenade!”, was the last thing she could scream to alert others before she pushed the agent to her left over the railing when the explosion hit her in the back knocking to her to the ground with a force, enough to leave most people unconscious, but not Maria. _Get up you bitch_ , she muttered to herself, _you’re not doing people a favor by being a coward seeking shelter on the floor_. By the time Maria rose back to her feet she noticed Fury knocking out on of the guys with his own gun but unfortunately his back was turned to the newest enemy entering the bridge so Maria unclipped her gun from its holster and fired to quick shots into his sternum. They continued on that way for a few minutes, shooting every man daring to try enter the bridge, when Fury questions out loud “You not gonna get in this way so why keep trying?”. After a moment pondering his question they received their answer when Barton shot from one of the vents, effectively hitting one of their computers, which seemed to have shut down everything, including another turbine.

Maria picked herself up the moment the shooting ceased and got back to coordinating the mess they suddenly found themselves in. She was about to take two agents with her to get down to the hangar, as originally planned, when they received a comm about the hulk dropping out of the sky and the mercenaries’ retreat. Everybody seemed to be automatically a bit more at ease now that the worst part is over including Maria, who now has to restrain herself from doubling over after the toll the grenade took on her. “Sit down Agent Hill and let one of the meds get a look at your injury.” She turned around, ready to counter the director’s words but he already started walking away. So Maria obliged begrudgingly and sat down until one of the medics would have the time for her. She sat for a solid minute when the news came through the comm that Maria dreaded most. Phil Coulson was not only a mentor to her but more likely the closest thing she had to a father. Her chest constricted and she fought the urge to cry openly in front of her agents, knowing all to well that it wouldn’t do her any favors releasing her pain. Her eyes were bloodshot, her hair messed up from the aftermath of the grenade, her head was throbbing from not only this but also her injury back at the facility which hasn’t been any longer than two days ago. Overall, she felt miserable and tried without any success to reign in her emotions again. Thinking back to her first encounter with Phil and how he always used to smile at people with his signature smile that could probably even bring a person as grumpy as Fury to admit defeat.

_She was in Madripoor with the Marines on assignment. A group off terrorists threatened the local governor to kill hundreds of people by bombing a major marketplace. Very soon the capitol was under control of said terrorists who she was sent to eliminate. ‘Better to let them take control at first and then clean the place up from the inside. Less casualties.’ When her team made its way to the main hide-out they got attacked from two sides. Being out in the open, without any chances for cover and the fire coming from two sides, her men succumbed rather quick. At some point Hill and her captain were the last two standing and fired a distraction in hope of covering their escape attempt. When they made it to the entrance of one of the many tunnels that run underneath the city her captain took a hit in both legs, making him unable to move along any further. “Go now lieutenant Hill. Alarm the others and torch this whole group of assholes on your way to the ground will ye?” Maria did as he asked but when she took the next exit out of the catacombs, she suddenly found herself surrounded by a group of people all dressed in business suits or tackgear. Wasting no time, she started knocking them out one after another, placing precise kicks and jabs, evading some blows thrown back at her all while setting eyes on the next target. What she didn’t expect however was the injector now suddenly stung in her neck. The world around her started spinning until she knew no more._

_Maria could hear faint voices in the back of her mind, making her realize that she woke up and jolted upright, making an attempt to run but was met with closed metal doors. “Lieutenant Hill.”, came the questioning, yet stern voice from across the room and Maria whipped her head around to notice a man with short cut, light hair, sunglasses and a suit. He stood behind a stool on which she saw an older woman sitting, making an almost casual appearance if it wouldn’t be for the dangerous look in her eyes. Maria instantly knew that this was the person in charge and took in the room they put her in, assessing her situation in the careful way a marine was taught to do. “Come here and have a seat with us”, the older lady gestured to a chair in front of her in what most people would describe as inviting but knowing that your only escape route is blocked and you’re up against a bunch of armored people without any weapons yourself made Maria sigh, sitting down somewhat defeated. The man introduced himself as Phil Coulson and the woman in front of him: Margaret Carter. At that Maria just gaped, suddenly realizing that the woman in front of her is nobody less than Captain ‘Peggy’ Carter, WWII veteran and one of Maria’s personal heroes. She always admired the woman who thrived in a men’s world at a time women weren’t expected to. “Do you know why you are here Miss Hill?”. The question shook Maria out of her daydream “I guess because I attacked SHIELD agents ma’am?”. At that several men looked in her direction, wondering how she figured it out while the man behind Carter, Coulson, had a smirk on his face “Not quiet Lieutenant. While you may have attacked them, my men should have known better than trying to counterattack and instead informed you of their identity. The only people to blame for their injuries are they. No I wanted to make you a job offer. As you’ve already figured out, we are from SHIELD and I couldn’t help but notice you fighting ever since your troop encountered the terrorists. You don’t just simply raise your weapon and fire to kill. No you always survey your surroundings first, analyze and assess your opponent before you strike. We at SHIELD always value both men and women sharing these qualities.” The woman finished her speech and waited for Maria’s answer and when none came simply raised an eyebrow at her to indicate that she’s still waiting. “I’d be honored ma’am.”. Carter threw a glance over her shoulder and Coulson moved towards her at that “This is your new batch. Welcome to SHIELD agent Hill”._

Throughout the years Coulson, May and Hill became quite the famous trio. Always taking on the assignments that none other could, while being that well synched, people might think they knew each other from day one until Maria started working in the higher ups, rising through the ranks which made field work a rare occasion rather than a daily occurrence. And then Romanov came, taking up more of Hills time and later May transferred to Administration after a horrible accident that cost the life of a civilian during an op in 2008.

She suddenly found her herself at the edge of the scene with Fury talking to the Avengers (when did the bunch of individuals became a group of heroes?). She noticed the way Rogers shifts uncomfortably at the mentioning of Phil’s trading and how he used to carry them in his pocket… _Hold on_ , she thought, _Coulson would never have his precious trading cards anywhere close to his body. In this kind of job it would have been only a matter of time until they’re ruined_. It took all of her self-control not to retort some inappropriate comment and focused instead on the team’s reactions in front of her, analyzing them one by one.

Not much later the ‘Avengers’ gathered again, having found out Loki’s next target and of course it would be none other than the Stark tower. From this point on they were pretty much powerless. A group of self-proclaimed superheroes against an army of aliens that invaded New York through a portal. Maria never felt so helpless in her life before. At some point the council tried to persuade them to send a nuclear bomb to New York which made all her sirens ring. The two of them tried to argue with the council but to no avail. Councilman Malick however overrode Fury’s authority, ordering one of their mics to fly out there and send this bomb. She frantically tried to hack herself into the jet but time was running out, so Fury decided to inform the team of the incoming missile. She barely recognized when Stark took the missile, leading it through the wormhole and most likely dying in the progress. She was already back to focus as she now had to make sure that no other bomb made its way to the city, however she didn’t keep the relieved sigh to herself as she heard the good news that the enemy has been defeated and top it, Iron Man made it out alive as well.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Maria's version of the aftermath of the invasion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's gonna be a little bit of violence in the flashback but nothing too big. I hope you'll like the chapter. :-)

The following days were a blur to her. Between the repairs of the helicarrier, communicating with agencies all across the globe, figuring out most of the Avengers have disappeared from their radar while filing more paperwork in one month than an entire year, Maria felt the exhaustion creeping on her. Unfortunately, she would have to keep going. There’s still lots of work to do and Maria can’t allow herself to relax a moment that could be used for work.

She always kept on her professional, unreadable face she is famous for even when the council tried to blame the New York situation onto them, mostly Nick Fury. The satisfaction of throwing their mistakes into their faces made it most difficult for her to stay neutral and not appear smug. She still had a hard time wrapping her mind around the fact that the council would be willing to sacrifice millions without the guarantee it would even work.

_‘Oh no…’ Maria thought as she saw the jets starting from the landing platform. If they were to reach New York they wouldn’t only bury one of the world’s most important anchor points for all sorts of trading etc. No they would also put out all their work and achievements out in the open like it’s worth a shit. ‘I mean which sane person would still trust any kind of national or international agency with their lives. We swore to protect these people and still we’re willing to sacrifice them just like that. We owe it to the people out in New York and all around the world to always do our best and not choose another way out because it’s easier on us.’ These thoughts alone made bile rise in her throat and the anxiety skyrocketing to a new level._

_So she swept across the screen, typing in things in a blur in hope of regaining control over their lost jets even after Fury’s attempt of stopping them with a rocket could only do so much. Her hope of still regaining control dropped with every second passing and at some point, she knew she had done everything possible in her own power to stop that inevitable missile._

_Luckily for her Fury still had another trick up in his sleeve and informed the Avengers about the incoming missile and Maria has never been so relieved and yet also ashamed at the same time. Relieved because they still figured out some way for the missile to not nuke New York even if it would have almost cost the life of a civilian (Stark) and ashamed because in all her time in the global security with both the Marines and SHIELD she always found a way to help those in need, and now all she could do was to sit around and wait. If there’s one thing Maria hated more than anything in the world it’s waiting for things to happen without being able to do anything against it._

When the meeting with the council finally ended, Maria felt great satisfaction over it. These meetings most of the time were the cause for arguments between her and Fury because both hated them with passion and since Fury was officially fired at that time or to say the least suspended it was up to her talking to a group of middle aged men (and one woman) who haven’t seen a real battle in years, maybe decades.

With the days passing, slowly turning into weeks, Maria tried to reinitiate contact with the Avengers as far as possible. Mainly because the old man wanted her to be the Avengers liaison, which made Maria’s blood boil once hearing that from him but secondly because she knew that the battle has taken a toll on each of them individually and, although Maria would never admit if questioned, she was concerned what it might do to them.

She knew about Starks whereabouts which is, truth to be told, not hard. The man always found a way to end up in the news. So she wrote an e-mail to both Tony and Pepper, asking for their wellbeing in the aftermath and passing a formal offer from SHIELD to help with anything regarding the invasion. After some writing back and forth with Pepper, as the strawberry blonde insisted she called her, they scheduled a meeting, for the next week, to exchange updates about the aftermath and figure out the details about who has to pay for what.

The next person on her list was Natasha and not because the Redhead was so easy to find. No she contacted her through one of the lines that both agreed on to always have at the ready. Maria liked to remember the first few hectic months as Natasha’s SO and chuckled to herself when thinking about it. Back then Natasha wasn’t much of a team player and mostly did her assignments alone or with either Barton or Maria and after one of her solo missions had gone way south and Barton was to deep in cover himself Maria had to drop things and fly over to help the widow.

_She was in the middle of a meeting about the budgets for certain parts of the organization. It was one of the early days of Maria working in the higher ups of SHIELD when her assistant walked into the meeting, handing her an urgent message. Upon reading the message her face paled with every word she read and she fled the room with some halfhearted excuse about an important intel she needed to go after immediately. ‘Come on pick up your phone Romanov’, she thought while hurrying towards her office with her assistant right behind. After a few more attempts Maria knew that nothing would come out of it and quickly looked up the mission details and most importantly Romanovs last known location, making a short assessment who could come to aid the Redhead. She was on her way to Natasha’s last known location, some place on the border between Russia and Kazakhstan, before anybody had realized what was going on._

_Upon arrival Maria assessed the situation, making short trips to local bars etc. to hear the gossip of the town. She hoped to catch some more information this way about what had happened to her fellow agent and if the mission was completed. In their files were some details about a weapon dealer with Russian origin using Kazakhstan’s politics on trading to smuggle weapons into all of Asia. SHIELD deemed him extremely dangerous to their cause and sent the Black widow to persuade and spy on him. They knew that the man had a weakness for a certain type of woman and luckily Natasha fit into his schemes. What they didn’t had on their file however was how this man used to work for the KGB previously and had overseen the Red Room program to a certain extent. Therefore when Natasha tried to seduce the man to get her intel he recognized her immediately and captured her, before she had a chance to realize what was going on. Maria had walked into many locations until she found Natasha’s target in the only casino of the small town. Laying out a plan already in her head, Maria walked up to the blackjack table the man played at, pretending to join the game. She counted the cards quickly in her head to gain their attention. She was a genius when it came to numbers, adding them in her head in a speed that would make most people dizzy and give up. It was forbidden to count them after all. Once Maria won a ridiculous amount of chips the man in question turned towards her with a compliment for her lucky game. She faced him, ready to flirt seductively and couldn’t help but smirk a little at the overconfidence the man so obviously wore on his sleeve. His whole posture screamed naïve arrogance at her. After an hour talking, or rather seducing him, at the small bar of the casino they left the building to what was most likely his place. As soon as he bid guards goodnight and closed the door Maria swung her fist into his jaw. The man swayed from the sheer force of her right hook and furiously tried to land a hit at her lower ribs with his fist but Maria was long prepared and ducked under his arm while elbowing him square in the face. She continued to grip his arm, all stil in one fluid motion, and prepared to fixate it on his back to immobilize him but he was trained enough to recognize that move and attempted to hit her in the face by whipping his own back with full force. She saw this coming and kicked at his knee from behind and wrapped her legs around his neck, squeezing him until he collapsed under her. Maria quickly used some handcuffs she always carried with her when on mission to subdue him before she looked around the apartment for information on Natasha’s status. After a few short minutes she found a map stashed in the back of a painting with a dot marked on it. She went back to her target who was tied to his bedpost and woke him with a hard slap across his face. The man blinked a few times before his focus set on her and he cursed in Russian. She slapped him again before angrily replying “You stupid ***. You kidnapped my charge so I’m at my wits end with you scum. So better pray and tell me everything I want know! Now!!”. To say the guy was surprised when Maria replied to him all fluently in Russian was an understatement, they’ve spoken English most of the evening and he described to his guards earlier, in Russian, in front of her what he would do to her once they were alone. After rethinking what he said earlier the man paled visibly and gulped nervously. However Maria knew better than to let this deter her and she kept her expressionless mask on all the time she questioned him. After 30 minutes of interrogating him she pulled out her phone calling in a crew to clean up the mess she created while interrogating the man. Knowing she couldn’t leave him alive because otherwise he might alarm the people at the facility Romanov was held Maria counted to three silently before pulling the trigger and making her way towards Natasha’s location._

She dialed the number both women had memorized long ago and waited patiently a few seconds before hearing Natasha’s voice: “Hey Mar. What’s going on?”. “Nothing much really. Just calling in to see how you’re doing or rather what you’re doing.”, she heard Natasha chuckle in the background and had to smile herself at that. Both women knew that there are only so few things that could cause any trouble for the Black widow. “You’ve been undercover for some time now. Almost a month and at some point you should at least consider coming back, while you still have a job. It’s been almost a month Nat where nobody has heard anything from you.”, she sighed and waited for Natasha to reply. “I know Maria. It’s been a while and I promise that I’ll come back even if it’s just to help training some rookies. It … It’s been rough you know? The invasion, losing Barton temporarily to the enemy, almost getting squished by the hulk but I’m coming back. Soon. Actually I plant on finishing what I am doing now and come back then.” “You know Natasha that I doesn’t matter that much to me as long as you get back once you’re finished. The old man is the one here who’s been a pain in my ass to get all of you back. The sooner the better.”, Maria shifted a little in her seat to get comfortable. Talking to Natasha could go on for hours if not interrupted by work. _She’s such a gossip_ , the commander thought, nobody would guess that one of her hobbies is to set people up on dates and stuff. This made it even more surprising when Natasha hung up after muttering how she has some business to care of.

Looking for the right app on her tablet, Maria left a little note about her progress. “Great two done, four more to go”, she cursed halfheartedly when she looked at her watch and saw the time. It took her hours to get the necessary about one Avenger. Not counting the days of e-mailing back and forth with Stark and Potts.

Stifling an annoyed groan, Maria squared her shoulders, exhaled and inhaled before getting focused on her task to find the Avengers again. In the end it took all night and morning of the next day to get at least some intel on the remaining locations. Apparently Banner went North, taking a trip into the mountainous, more lonely, regions in Northern Canada and Alaska. He probably tries to get the handle onto his anger again.

Barton was, as suspected, with his family in Iowa on their farm enjoying the time off with his loved one’s. _After everything he deserves a little peace and quiet_ , Maria thought, _It’s not easy to have somebody mess with your brain like that._

Thor’s general location, Asgard obviously, was easy to determine but other than that there wasn’t much to know. It’s not as if they had an open comm channel to the other realm to communicate with the Norse gods.

Rogers on the other hand was travelling through the U.S., mostly on the coast line her agents reported and was already on his way back to New York. She wrote a reminder on her tablet to call him as soon as he’s back before she allowed herself to lean back in her chair and closed her eyes.

Everything that happened in the past few weeks ever since the tesseract brought Loki to them was suddenly back in the front of her mind and she shook her head to clear her thoughts. Her breath hitched and her heartbeat suddenly quickened which made it harder shaking of the fear and grief she felt. She could still hear the screams of the wounded and the cries of those who lost a loved one. She remembered the fear when the facility collapsed on her and the fear when nothing was good enough on her end to stop the missile from hitting New York. She recounted the grief and also sudden anger she felt when the news about Coulson’s death came through. All the floodgates Maria had tried so hard to keep closed threatened to burst now at any moment, making it hard to focus. Maria eventually decided to get some paperwork done instead of resting, hoping that the exhausting will be enough later to allow her some rest.


	4. Chapter 4

A shrill tone is what startled Maria. Stifling an annoyed groan from being woken she looked around until she found her buzzing phone and looked at the watch before answering the call after some cursing. It was four in the afternoon and realization hit her that she must have fallen asleep during work hours. Unfortunately she didn’t bother to check who called before answering it. “Good afternoon Ms. Hill”, the person on the other end said and Maria found herself annoyed again for what must be the umpteenth time today. From all the people it had to be Stark to call her.

“Well good afternoon Mr. Stark. What can I help you with?”, staying polite in this situation seemed like the best option and she really hoped the billionaire wouldn’t make it any harder than it already is but Stark of course had other ideas.

“Oh what could you help me with?? Do you believe I only call when I need something from you? You wound me deeply Agent Hill.” His voice held a smirk clearly audible in it and the way he pronounced her title as an agent was obviously meant to provoke. She was glad to only talk on the phone with him because the man would certainly make another comeback once he saw her sour looking expression. She opted for ignoring his snarky comment and continued

“Is it about the meeting in a few days time? If that’s the case you wouldn’t need to call me directly but could order someone to leave a message for my secretary.”

“Well it is about the meeting. Sort of. Pepper asked me to call you because she’s too busy herself. Poor Pep. Working 14 hours 6 days a week right now definitely takes a toll on her. Ever since we helped SHIELD, people bombarded her with questions about the… Well about anything. Especially the Chita…”. Maria started to get a little annoyed by Starks rant. The man could go on for hours if she didn’t put an end to it quickly but most surprisingly, he didn’t seem to take any break from talking. Not even to catch his breath for a second.

“I highly recommend for you to get to the point Stark. Now!”. How he could always get a rise out of everybody is a mystery to Maria. “We were wondering if you could spare some time this evening for the meeting. Some of Pepper’s meetings later today got canceled and I thought the sooner we get this over with the better.”

“Oh so you thought we should change the time of our meeting? I thought Pepper was the one to insist on calling?”, her overly sweet and nice tone now is a 180° turn in comparison to what people are used to from her. Usual Maria goes for a crisp demand in her voice that leaves no room for an argument. But right now, she felt like teasing thus the change.

One time during an undercover op with Barton and Romanov the archer didn’t stop bothering Maria all the way from their look out point back to their base of operations. And it was a two hours drive! When they finally reached the place Maria got an idea and her sour expression changed into one of utter joy as she approached Barton. At his next remark Maria replied with a voice as sweet as honey and her joyful expression. However instead of joking along she opted to tell him of some new form of punishment when they came back. Hearing the punishment Clint paled visibly while Romanov had a hard time not to laugh at her best friend.

Needless to say: A week later Barton was teaching the newbies at the academy how to use a bow and arrows. However instead of just taking any bow the recruits had to use his favorite bow and everybody who knows Barton is aware of how protective he is over this weapon. Not even once were Romanov or Hill allowed to touch the weapon, let alone Fury and Coulson. He was still fuming over it for another month and never dared to annoy Maria that much again.

Unfortunately for her, Stark isn’t intimidated by her at all and her sarcastic response had little to no effect on the billionaire. Even more so he seemed to take it as chance to annoy Maria, again. The two ended the phone call after a few more minutes bickering. Neither of them backing down from the challenge to get a rise out of the other and agreed to the meeting later that day and hung up once Maria had to attend another call.

The next couple of hours she endured a conference call between the global leaders of the most important intelligence agencies. The meeting was originally scheduled to talk about which agency is responsible for what in the clean-up of the invasion. Sure, the American agencies had the most work because the attack happened in their own country but they needed to count on the others to hunt anybody who tried to get a hand on the alien technology.

A few days after the attack when the repairs and clean up had started people noticed that most of the aliens have been stripped of their weapons. Nobody could tell who exactly took the weapons and most importantly what their goals are. Those things could be sold on the black market for a small fortune each. No one has ever seen technology this advanced before and the desire for it was high. Agencies and governments all around the globe got concerned about the national and global safety. The fear of what might happen if these weapons fall into the wrong hands was undeniable. This gave them at least some sort of common ground though it was obvious that not all agencies had the same goals in mind once they got their hands on those weapons. Adding to that most of the leaders needed to leave or at least interrupt the meeting for a short amount of time when other important matters came up. At the end of the longest two hour meeting they ever had, both Maria and Nick were beyond exhausted and just took a moment to relax and sip on a cup coffee when Maria’s assistant walked in to remind her about the scheduled meeting with Stark and Potts.

Maria felt like punching somebody especially all the men in her previous meeting. Most of them couldn’t accept the reality that a young woman like Maria got into the second highest position in an intelligence agency in less than 10 years where else most of them had to work at least twice that long to get even close to a leadership position. There were always two different types of them. The first would openly show their lack of respect and doubt her abilities out in the open. The second typed had more of a stealthy approach but nonetheless noticeable. They always threw her judging side glances and usually went against everything she said even if it supported their own agenda. To be honest Maria couldn’t decide which of them was worse and reflected it in her expression after the meeting.

By the point her assistant came Maria was still rightfully mad and would have probably taken it out on one of the other two occupants in the room if not for Fury. He immediately sensed Maria’s change of mood and lead her assistant out of the room, excusing himself as well. He is a man who saw and lived through many things that would have terrified others to their core without betting an eye. But to be on the receiving end of Maria’s fury was not something he ever truly wanted to experience. Sure there were times when she disagreed with him, more often than not, but to have her look at you with a face that says _I’m so gonna kill you_ is one of the few fears he had.

_A couple of years back on of the agents under her command disobeyed her orders and opted to try to rescue civilians held hostage in a building which resulted in the entire squadron of SHIELD elite fighters almost get killed in the process of his recklessness. He was getting reprimanded at HQ by the director when Hill walked in and wordlessly went over to the guy and looked him dead in the eye with exact the expression that Fury is so wary of, but the guy had two tours of Afghanistan on his back and wasn’t intimidated by the woman. Instead he decided to openly laugh at her. Maria only took a split second to knee him in the balls, hard, before she swung up her legs locking them around his neck and flipped him over by using his own weight. The speed and brute strength of her swift attack left all the other occupants in the room speechless while Maria just stood up and walked out like nothing happened. Said man suffered from a broken pelvis and needed a bag temporarily attached to his body because he couldn’t pee on his own for a whole week._

On his way out of the conference room Fury encountered Romanov. She apparently came back from her undercover solo. When the Redhead saw him, she hurried in her steps a little to catch up to him to ask where Maria is, but the question died on her tongue the moment she saw his warning expression. Instead she cleared her throat before opting for another question “Which poor soul is on her receiving end this time?”, she couldn’t help but smirk and wonder. Something must have pissed of her mentor greatly for Fury to look this alarmed.

“Nobody”, Natasha gave him her best _No bullshit look_ and the man sighed in defeat “I mean not yet at least. Came back from a meeting from the leaders of all the other agencies. You know how they are”. Natasha had to snort at that. She could very well remember all the egoistic idiots in way to large offices ranting about how a woman like Maria couldn’t possible have achieved such position through skill. She knew better than to approach her mentor right now. But Fury’s next sentence surprised her even more “Though I guarantee for nothing. From what her assistant told me Agent Hill has a meeting this evening. With Stark out of all people”.

If Natasha would be drinking something at the moment she sure would have spilled it. Maria is not somebody to yell and scream a lot. There are only so few things which can get a rise out of her. However the previous meeting surely didn’t improve her mood and when dealing with Starks antics you need all the positivity you can muster. Natasha didn’t doubt for a second Stark wouldn’t do anything in his possibilities to annoy Maria even further. “Should I maybe give Pepper a heads up to get her obnoxious boyfriend under some sort of control, at least for the duration of Hill’s visit?”, she looked up at Fury and at his swift nod turned towards her office where she would message Pepper and give her a warning in advance.

At the same time Maria gathered her things from the conference room before moving towards her office in order to get prepared for her meeting with Stark and Potts. On her way to the office she noticed several agents throwing her a worried look. Some of them more subtle than others and a few even went as far as to drop the things they were doing and move out of her way. Sure she always had an intimidating reputation. Especially for the people under her command but the stares became more and more over the past few weeks.

 _Do I seriously look I’d kill them on sight? Sure I’m not a fairytale kind of commander but they’re obviously scared of me and scared subordinates tend to do mistakes. Not always but from time to time. And how am I supposed to know when there’s an important problem that needs to be dealt with. Guess I’ll have to talk to Tasha or maybe Clint later today. Actually just Tasha I guess._ Maria stopped herself from sighing in defeat. She needed to find out why her agents were scared of her now. Well, more scared than usual.

Back at the office she went to her small wardrobe. All that’s in there is entirely for work. Most of her clothes were catsuits and tackgear anyway but even the few pieces of nice clothes she kept in her office were entirely for business reasons. Sometimes Maria had to go and meet up with the council or the other agencies in person and it would never make a good impression to show up for a formal business meeting dressed as if there is a war bound happen the very moment you step one foot outside. She opted for a navy-blue dress. It was her favorite because of the combination of business and elegance going along with that design. The dress was closed highly in the front and dropped a little in the back, barely below her shoulder blades. The sleeves were tightly wrapped around her arms and ended at elbows length. The whole dress was cut tight, but not too tight where it might be considered inappropriate for business and went a little below her knees. The big bonus of this dress was that it was designed specifically for agents like her and thus allowed some concealed weapons on her persona.

After applying a small amount of make-up, she picked up her coat before leaving her office. At the entrance of HQ she was taken by surprise. In front of her stood a limo worthy of only the upper class. She was even more surprised when Happy Hogan stepped out of the front and walked up to greet her. The limousine was for her! She shook her head a little, still too overwhelmed which made Happy chuckle a bit. Considering how close he is with Stark and Potts he must have heard some kind of stories about SHIELD and probably her. Once inside her expression went from utter surprise to sheer fury in the fraction of a second which only earned her a question from Happy, asking for her wellbeing. “Everything all right Miss Hill? I hope that everything is satisfying.” It took her a moment to wrap her thoughts around it before she was able to form a proper response

“Yes Mr. Hogan. Everything is more than satisfying. I just didn’t expect all this” she threw her hands up in the air with a little too much exasperation making Happy chuckle for the second time during the short span since they met.

“Didn’t Pepper or Mr. Stark inform you of this? If not, I am truly sorry for dropping this onto you just like that. And please call me Happy. Mr. Hogan makes feel so old.”, he fake complained making Maria smile a little in the process. It’s been a long time since she felt so… So carefree around anybody and all of that while driving to a meeting. Mr. Ho… Happy’s carefree and yet also respectful attitude made her feel appreciated for the first time in a long while.

While at work people treated her with the utmost caution, like she is a predator about to pounce on them at any second. And then there was the second type mostly consisting off all the white, old man representing the same business as she does in similar positions like hers. Pierce was one of the many examples, fitting into this category. Never having to say anything to fellow female agents unless he needed something from them. She just enjoyed the half an hour ride to the tower where she was immediately greeted by a group of reporters running up to the car. Maria didn’t realize she was holding her breath until Happy moved past the crowd towards the entrance of the tower’s underground parking lot. “I am afraid Maria that I will have to leave now. Got some other business to take care of for the boss but I’ll be back by the time you have to get back.”

“Thank you Happy. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed our conversation. If it could only be so easy when dealing with Stark”. At this point she made Happy laugh again and agreed to let somebody know once she was ready to leave the tower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. This is the first chapter in a while. I am very busy for the next few months so I won't be able to update too often. Hope you'll enjoy this one.


End file.
